locked away
by Yellowbuggedsavior
Summary: Emma and Regina have always bickered back and forth with each other what they didn't know is how annoying it is to be anyone else in town who has to stand by and watch.


"Idiot."

"Okay, seriously Regina if we are going to be locked in here all night together you need to think of a different insult. You've called me that about a zillion times already, it's starting to lose its affect." Emma says leaning against the bars of the cell, Regina was pacing back and forth.

Regina raised her eye brows, "Oh I'm sorry Miss Swan, how are: dumbass, moron, stupid. Do those work better for you?" She was beyond done with being trapped in the cell with this blonde idiot. She planned on murdering her parents the moment she gets out of there. Before anyone asks, she tried to use her magic but it's not working for her.

"Now that was just you calling me an idiot using synonyms. Cheater." She smirks knowing that she is pissing the former evil queen off. Something about it makes her happy, but that's also what got them into this mess

"Charming, are you sure they will be okay in there all night?" Snow asked concerned, "I don't want Emma getting hurt."

David actually laughed at the thought, "Don't worry about Emma, my love, I think she's rather enjoying herself. She started pushing Regina's buttons the moment that they were locked in." He looks up in thought, "It kind of seems like she's enjoying it a bit."

Snow looked at him in confusion, "And why would Emma be enjoying getting locked in a cell with Regina? There is no room at all in those cells, I would know. Having another person in there would make it impossible to stay sane, even for a short while."

Regina and Emma are always caught at each other's throats the moment snow and charming walk in anywhere. They were sick of having to play in the middle and get them to back off each other. Sometimes it looked like it was playful spatter but other times it looked as if Regina was about to rip Emma's heart out and Emma was about to snap Regina's neck. Their solution to this problem was to lock them up like angry siblings and have them work it out. David was supposed to stay there to make sure that they are safe and that they don't murder each other, but he couldn't take it anymore. He was beyond annoyed and ready to step in and just tell them both to shut up, that they are being children, but he knew how that would turn out. He would be the one being yelled at, and not just by one of them, but both. That's the tricky thing about when they fight, they won't allow anyone to pick sides. If someone says they agree with Emma, Emma will turn around and start defending Regina and vice versa. So no one is able to step in, they just have to let it play out and it gets frustrating.

"I don't know Snow, maybe we are looking at this the wrong way." He shrugs starting to think that Emma and Regina may like each other too much and it's causing both of their walls to go up, which creates this chaos.

"There is so much tension charming, how can we possibly have gotten this wrong. It's either this or-oh." Snow's eyes widen and she kind of chuckles to herself that she hasn't thought of it sooner. "Sexual tension."

Charming's face dropped, he doesn't like thinking of anyone with his little girl doing _that_ with her. "You're telling me that we just locked them in a cell together for fighting and the reason that they were fighting is because they like each other!?" He huffs and crosses his arms like a protective father which makes Snow chuckle.

"I think it's more than like, darling. I also don't think either of them know it yet." She plops down on the couch and tells David to come sit with her and watch a movie. They can't worry about it now, if they let them out then they would assume they won and the charming's can't have that.

"Emma, stop it." She snaps at the woman who was throwing little balls of paper at her. Where she got the paper Regina has no idea.

Emma just sighs and rolls up another one before throwing it, "but I'm bored!" She whines and pretends to start banging her head on the bars.

"Please, don't pretend, save me from having to strangle you." The brunette glares at Emma who just rolls her eyes and leans back against the bars.

"Like you could actually do that, I am way stronger than you. I can pin you down in a second, toothpick." Emma's mind quickly flashed to another way she could pin the mayor down but she quickly made it disappear from her head.

"You underestimate me, Miss Swan, you have no idea what I'm capable of." Regina had stopped walking and was standing in front of the blonde glaring at her.

"Cute, using words from around the time we first met." She fakes awe, "Regina I didn't know you cared."

"Shut up." Regina had her hand on her forehead as if she was coming down with a headache.

"Stop giving me things to say and I will, your majesty." She fake curtsies.

"Thank you, _princess_." Regina smirked knowing the blonde hated being called a princess with a passion. It should wipe the smirk right off her face.

 **3 hours later**

Emma was sitting on the floor ignoring everything Regina was saying to her.

"Emma, quit acting like a child. I said I was sorry." She groans and looks at Emma who hadn't looked away from the spot she was staring at in three hours. "Are you really going to give me the silent treatment the rest of the night, dear?" She doesn't know why it bothers her so much that Emma wasn't talking, it's what she wanted in the first place. She only now notices that Emma talking to her was making the time go by faster, and now that she was refusing to talk it was going by extremely slow. She sighs and looks at the blonde, her hair was slightly over her face and she seemed to be zoned out on the spot. "Emma please?"

Emma looked up at her, not changing her expression one bit but at least she moved her head. Regina was starting to get worried by how still she was. "What do you want?"

Regina smiles softly, "You just did it. Now will you accept my apology?"

"Didn't you want me to shut up, I finally did and then you won't shut up about me shutting up. Make up your mind." Emma said in a slightly annoyed voice.

After about 30 minutes in compatible silence, Regina thought about something. "Hey Emma?"

"Hmm?" She says with her eyes closed leaning against the bars.

"How did you do that?" The brunette asked curiously, leaning back against the wall the bed was against.

"Do what?" Emma didn't sound like anything she just sounded mono toned.

Regina thinks about it for a second and then decides she needs to ask. "The way you went silent for about three hours, you hardly moved, didn't speak, it almost felt like you didn't blink either."

Emma opened her eyes and looked at Regina not expecting that question. She tries to just shrug and go back to her life of waiting until the morning but Regina just stared her down. Emma sighs and sits up slightly, "Something I learned in foster care."

"Why would you need to know how to be that quiet there?" Regina asked curiously as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Emma gave Regina a look that asked if she really wanted to know. When the brunette nods that she does, Emma wonders what made her want to tell Regina. "I've learned through the years that if you make yourself invisible it's a lot easier to be forgotten. I know that sounds ominous, but in foster care there weren't a lot of good homes. Some were really bad and being invisible was the best option because that means less punishment." Emma takes a break to look at Regina then continues, "Of course I didn't know the trick I did my whole life. It's actually something I learned towards the end of my time in the system. I was in a really bad home, the dad scared the shit out of me just by his looks. I learned to hide and how to stay incredibly quiet, no breath sounds, no movement, nothing. It got me through there in one piece." She shrugs and re-closed her eyes. "Satisfied with the answer?"

Regina was shocked by the answer, she wanted to pull Emma into a hug and tell her how sorry she was that she had to go through such a rough life. When Emma asked if she was satisfied with the answer she went back to wanting to slap the idiot. "No Emma, I'm not satisfied with the fact that you, little you, was so scared that you had to shut down your emotions. No one should have to do that."

Emma just sat there keeping her eyes closed but whispered small to her, "Thanks."

 **2 Hours Later**

"Regina, I'm tired." Emma says in a raspy sleepy voice from the floor where she was laying.

Regina is laying on the cot with her eyes closed trying to sleep when Emma's words interrupted her, "Then go to sleep."

"How come you get the bed?" Emma whines.

"Because I laid on it first?" Regina answered back sarcastically.

Emma rolls her eyes and stands up walking over to the cot. Regina hears her but doesn't think anything of it until Emma was laying practically on top of her on the bed. Emma smiles proudly to herself, "problem solved."

Regina huffs but scoots out of the way so that Emma can have slightly more room, "you're impossible."

Emma just cuddles into the one pillow that they have to share, "I know." She opens her eyes and looks at the brunette who was staring at the ceiling.

' _God you're so beautiful._ ' She thinks she says in her head.

"What did you just say?" Regina said tensing a little bit at the unexpected compliment.

"I said I know." She said with a yawn and looked at Regina.

"No, after that. What did you say after that?" Regina leans up on her elbow so she can see the blonde when she answers.

"What are you talking about, Regina, I didn't say anything after tha-" she froze, feeling her whole body tense. She didn't think she said anything out loud after that but maybe what she wanted to say in her head came out of her mouth. Great, just great, Regina is now going to give her a speech on how inappropriate that was for her to say.

"You think I'm beautiful?" Regina asked softly as if she didn't know how truly gorgeous she was. Emma looked at her confused by the question.

"What do you mean? Of course I do." Emma says exasperatedly, "Me and the whole fucking town does." Emma could have sworn she saw Regina deflate at the fact that it wasn't just Emma saying she was beautiful.

Regina lays back down and faces the ceiling, "oh right, of course." She smiles tightly and just lays there without saying a word.

Emma was confused, what did she say wrong? She just looks at Regina, going through everything she said in her head and nothing was making sense. "Regina, what did I do? Why are you pretending with me right now?"

Regina turned to Emma and snaps, "I'm not pretending that's your job."

"Woah, okay mood swings, let's calm it down." She raised her hands as much as she could in the position she's in.

"Did you really just call me _mood swings_." Regina glares at Emma, if her eyes were weapons Emma would be dead.

Emma sighs and rolls her eyes, laying back down. She and Regina were shoulder to shoulder on the bed, "Don't go all mood swings on me and I won't call you it."

"You're being ridiculous, Miss Swan-"

"Oh look at that! We are back to Miss Swan, folks, Emma must have messed up because that's the only time the brunette uses that name!" She pretended to be a sports talker.

Regina huffs and looks over at Emma, "Stop being a child!"

"Stop being stubborn! You never explain to me why you get pissed at me so often, what have I done in the pass hour that would cause the use of 'Miss Swan'." Emma was turned on her side facing the former evil queen waiting for an answer.

"I'm not stubborn, if anyone is stubborn it's you, dear." Regina turned on her side as well, facing Emma. Neither seemed to notice how close they are.

"Now who's being childish," the blonde raised an eyebrow. "Next time why don't you just say, 'I know you are but what am I'. It's practically the same." She smiles a little proud of herself for how pissed off Regina looks. If there was magic in this cell Regina would have burnt her to a crisp. "You still didn't answer my question though."

Regina didn't remember the question at first and looked confused, then it dawned on her. "If you don't know what you did then it's not worth explaining it to you." She huffs and never stops their eye contact.

"That's bullshit." Emma snaps, "Just tell me what I fucking did okay?"

"You didn't do anything Em-ma." She made sure to use her first name this time.

Emma laughs without humor, "Why are you so mad at me! All I've done in the pass hour is get in the bed and say you are beautiful!"

"You said that but then you made sure to add that everyone else thinks it too!" Regina's eyes widen, she wasn't meant to tell her. She was just so riled up that it slipped out.

Emma looked confused, "What? So what, why would you be pissed that everyone compliments you?"

Regina was avoiding eye contact now, but Emma let her. She sighs and looks at the wall behind Emma, "It's not that."

"Then what is it? I'm not following." Emma watched Regina's every move as if she watched hard enough she would get the answers. "You're going to have to spell it ou-"

Regina interrupted her from finishing the sentence by leaning forward and connecting their lips together. The moment she did it she started to panic, what if she was reading too much into the statement? She was about to pull away when Emma started kissing back. The blonde was shocked by the turn of events, never in her life did she think Regina would be the one to kiss her first. She noticed the slight panic in Regina somehow and kissed back to let her know it was okay. She slid her hand onto Regina's cheek and deepened the kiss, moving her head sideways to make access easier for the brunette's tongue. They got closer without realizing it, their bodies were pressed together as they continued the needy kiss. Emma's tongue finally got a chance to explore the other woman's mouth, she doesn't think she will ever want to stop kissing her. Regina separates their mouths from the kiss for a moment and just looks at Emma with the most genuine smile, the smile Emma has only ever seen aimed at Henry. Emma smiles back softly and their foreheads connect for a moment before Regina leans back in to continue the kiss. Regina's hand moves to the blonde's side, pulling her impossibly closer. Emma was practically over her but she wasn't complaining. The kiss has gotten more heated and they were both lost in the moment, Emma heard a small moan but wasn't sure if it was from her or Regina, not that it mattered. Emma was moving so she was over the brunette, her right leg between Regina's legs. As soon as she moved over her Emma let out a small yelp of surprise because she was falling to the floor with Regina above her. She must have tilted over the edge of the bed, landing with a huff she heard giggling. The giggling was coming from the woman everyone has been scared of for years. Emma couldn't even be in pain from the fall because if that was the cause of Regina laying on top of her laughing like a giddy school girl, she'll do it over and over again. No question about it.

"Are you okay, dear?" Regina said trying to hold back a laugh.

"Yup, perfectly fine. I love falling off beds." She jokes moving her hands to the other woman's hips and smiles at her.

Regina couldn't help but laugh at that, she let her head fall to Emma's shoulder and then stayed there. She felt comfortable and she hadn't heard Emma complaining either. Her laughter soon faded to a happy smile and it wouldn't fade away. She can't even remember the last time she was this happy.

Emma felt the same way, she couldn't keep the smile from her lips. No matter how hard she tried to act cool it didn't work. She just kept gently rubbing her thumbs over Regina's sides. "We don't have to thank my parents now do we?"

Regina let out a breathy laugh, "Not a chance. They should have never locked us away in the first place."

"Then this would have never happened." Emma plays the devil's advocate

"It would have eventually, in our own time. This just sped it up slightly, I think I was starting to realize that is wasn't just anger I was feeling when fighting with you, dear." She lifts her head up to look at Emma, who was already looking up at her as well.

Emma smiles and moves one of her hands and tucks Regina's hair behind her ear so it's out of her face. "Really now, Madame Mayor, I just thought you wanted to rip my heart out the whole time."

"Oh no, I definitely was thinking that most of the time." She agrees with a nod of her head and a smile. "There was just another part of me that was screaming to slam you against the wall and have my way with you." She smirks her most seductive smirk then bites her lip slightly.

Emma's smile was replaced with a gaping mouth and darkened eyes, "I would not have complained, you- I wouldn't have minded." Her brain was short circuiting.

Regina chuckles and kisses Emma's cheek before sitting up, "I like when I fluster the savior." She moves to stand up and holds a hand out for Emma to take, which she does. Now they are both standing and just looking at each other. "What do you say we go to bed?"

Emma looks over at the cot, automatically nodding to her. "Yeah, sounds good." She was about to go lay down on the small mattress when Regina stops her by grabbing her hand. Emma immediately turns to look at Regina who was leaning in to kiss her and she couldn't help but smile at the thought that the brunette wanted to. They kiss softly, less needily more caring. Then Regina leads her to the bed to lay down and go to sleep. They faced each other like they did before, but it was so different. Both woman were taking in and storing what the others face looked like, how they smiled, how they blinked. They took in all of the information until they dosed off in each other's arms.

 **The Next Morning**

"David I'm sure they are fine!" Snow said as she was trailing after her husband into the sheriff's station.

He walks quickly, "You can't be sure though."

Snow sighs and shakes her head, stopping in her tracks right before she ran into her husband's body. "Charming what is it?" He had stopped so suddenly once entering the station, giving Snow pause in her complete faith that neither one of them was killed.

"They are sleeping..." He says in the most unbelieving voice, "Not just sleeping. They are cuddling." He was shocked by the turn of events but when they got closer they could see how happy they both were. Their bodies were intertwined like they were scared the other would disappear if they let go. Emma had her arm around Regina's waist and was holding onto the back of her shirt with a hard grip. Regina was nestled into Emma's chest, her hands were holding the front of the blonde's shirt with the same grip.

Snow walks in further and stands next to David, "They look so-so comfortable and happy like that." David nods in agreement and they both just stand there in awe for a few moments before they turn to one another.

"Want to go get some breakfast?" He asks his wife with a new smile. She nods and he goes to unlock the cell before they head out to grannies.

Snow leaves a note where she knows one of them will see it:

 **Breakfast at Granny's? See you there, both of you!**

 _ **-Snow**_


End file.
